Celia Rae Foote
by mindnumbling
Summary: A little short story bout her. Don't know where the plot is going so it will be a surprise for me as well xD
1. Return

_This is my little short story I wanted to write. It is in Miss. Celia's point of view. I found her character interesting how she thought and saw the world. Not only that, she is my absolute favourite and in a small way reminds me of me lol. _

_No, I cannot write as Kathryn can so it is going to be modern like. In addition, I am making up Celia's past. And, the plots by the BOOK not the MOVIE... The movie slightly disappointed me:PPP_

_~~Minny~~_

I get up real early today Monday morning and scoot the chillens off to their school in a rush and get to cleaning my sister's home before she comes home for lunch. Luckily, none of the kids could bring everything they owned which was not well a much so cleaning up was a breeze. Another upturn to this is today I am going back to Miss Ol Crazies house for the first time which feels like years.

It has been about a few months since I almost died from Leroy and got a divorce. I ended up having a real bad miscarriage. Most likely, from been beaten from Leroy that ungrateful night before I ran out to the gas station not fully aware of everything that was going on. Particularly inside me. Octavia rushed me to the hospital when she saw blood in her trucks seat. That was one day I cannot forget, I just thought about Celia the whole dang time in the hospital. How did she ever cope with this horrible out come?

Sugar however found a good job out in Northern Mississippi and even was lucky enough to bunk with one a her girlfriends.

I look up to the kitchen clock realizing it's almost 8, I put my cleaning supplies away and rush out of the kitchen right over to Miss. Celia's. As I walk over the 2-kilometre walk across farmers dead canola field to work the first thing Miss. Celia is going to do is squeal, jump up and down, bear hug me, then talk her head off. Just as it was every other day, she had exciting news.

~~_Miss. Celia~~_

I lay face up in my bed staring at the ceiling. Tears run down the side of my head over my temples and into my bed head hair. Just thinking of every miscarriage depresses me into tears. Something I read in a magazine explained why we are more emotional after but most of the women who have read the article laughed at it. I do not understand how they couldn't be shattered after something so heartbreaking as that. Maybe it is my past. The fact I never had someone truly love me.

Soon after my mind slows, clears and my eye's run out of tears I roll over onto my left facing Johnny who got the few days off this week. He is so sound asleep with a graceful look on his face as if he is dreaming of something wonderful, while I lay here in pain and bitterness. I snug in closer and wrap my arm around him burying my face into his shoulder. Like my old teddy bear, I had back in Sugar Ditch. Slowly, I start to snooze back off but not before I hear oops and the door closing.

Sighing I decide to ignore it and fall back to sleep. I will fill Minny in on everything at lunch about everything that is happening and happened as she was gone. Everything from possibly Adopting, to... to well, well there's not much that goes on around here anymore. Since Little Miss. Hilly lives on hills a lot, decided I have no social standing in this town. Furious it makes me, but as if, I could even make friends around my own age. Might as well just lock myself up in an old person knitting class and die from stabbing myself with the needles.

~.~.~.~

"Psst. Celia. Celia darling. Wake up..."

I rouse from deep sleep slightly, burying my face deeper into Johnny's shoulder.

"Celia!"

"I'm up!" I shout out into the room bolting up 90 degrees into a slump. My stinging eyes wide open from the air and morning sun shining through the windows. Curse the day Minny ever cleaned them windows. There is a nice breeze coming from the widow. Flipping my eyes back and forth from the cabinet's to the door, I feel a hand on my now tingling lower back. Slowly I ease back down onto my back calming my butterflies and rub my eyes for a minute or two.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Johnny whispers into my ear as I pull my palms away from my eyes. I rest them on my stomach. "I don't think I even dreamt." I never dream. If I dream, it is on its odd occasions. And now this week happens to be one of its odd occasions.

"You were twitching around and had an expression of disgust." He says real worried holding my forearm looking at me dead on in the eye.

"I don't remember," I say with the late morning grogginess voice, and sigh out heavily. Quickly I get up from bed, kick my clothing towards the closet and shuffle towards the washroom to brush my teeth before Johnny goes and asks more questions.

A few minutes later, I step out of the washroom and Johnny goes right on back to sleep. I shake my head and go find my only true friend - besides being married - in the kitchen making, us all lunch.

"Minny!" I squeal out forgetting already it's Monday and run over for a hug. "It's been too long how's everything? " I ask her pulling my chair out from under the table and brush my fingers threw my hair as I set down. She walks over towards the coffee pot. There is something wrong. She's got one of her fake smiles on.

"Minny what's wrong? What happened?" I ask curious now not caring if I never gave her much time to reply. I feel that whatever happened last time is connected to now.

"Nothing ma'am. Just tired. And yeah, real nice to see you again!" Minny replies with her over confident spirit.

"You stopped saying ma'am before you left your last day. I said you could stop calling me that?" I say slowly lifting myself from the chair. The floor is real cold today but I ignore the tingling in my toes and slowly walk over.

She sighs, "sorry. Force of habit," and smiles sweetly. "Now set down let me get you your coffee!"

She pulls out a cup from the cabinet to pour a cup of coffee from the percolator.

"Did something happen to your baby?" I ask wondering if maybe I am being too pushy.

She looks up at me a quick second and back to the coffee pouring from the hot steaming pot. She doesn't say anything and I can tell she's trying to ignore me. Slightly I put my hand on her shoulder and she looks up at me as she sets the pot down on the stove top.

"I told yea I am fine and just happy to be back, Celia," her week smile persists but I keep my concerned expression right on the spot. She rolls her eyes, "you get too worked up over nothing."

Quickly she scoops two sugars into my coffee and hands me the hot mug. I guess that maybe I am over looking it all. So I take this opportunity and just smile back. "Alright. You know you can talk to me as ive said," I say and pull my hand away from her and head back to the table.

I plop myself on down with one thing on my mind: cooking! "When's our cooking lesson?" I ask giddy as a schoolchild on Spring Break. As if, I ever had spring break... Just ever watched it on the teevee.

"She tosses her eyes right up to me not even moving her head from the front view of the frying pan filled with hash browns. "Your still wantin' to do this?" she asks a little shocked. Her eye brows raise and I shift in my chair and take a sip of deliciousness. I breathe out, fidget, breath in and straighten up in my seat, "yes!" I reply swiping my drooping bangs from my face to the side.

She huffs out a few laughs under her breath. "Persistence and desire. Now, eat up and let me get to cleaning up whatever Sugar never did," Minny says fixing my plate for lunch and Johnny's as well.

"Oh! I'll get Johnny up!" I say setting my coffee down after it took me the while to figure out what the second plate was out for.

Walking right up on to our bedroom door I push it open quietly and step threw to Johnny just as where I saw him last. Only, more sprawled out and completely covered in all 3 blankets we have laying round as covers for our bed. I shrug it off and walk over and plant a kiss on his forehead. I set down beside him and shake his chest a bit to wake him up.

He rolls over to his right then back to the center. "Why aren't you sleepin?" he asks real sweetly putting his hand onto my thigh. I smirk and lean over for a kiss, "it's almost eleven thirty!" I say giggling. We two are the biggest love struck couple this town could ever see! I know I do not see any type of affection around town, not even a kiss for crying aloud. It sucks knowing nobody truly cares about their significant other but makes up for it by pretending and shunning out others in society. Particularly me.

Johnny widens his eyes and starts to laugh. "We really don sleep threw to lunch?" "Sure have. Get up! Minny's made us all lunch," I squeeze his hand and start for the door without getting appropriately dressed for the day.


	2. Breakfast?

_Alright, so it's been a while so the style of writing has went down and probably won't sound the same either. Sorry bout that. And my chapters might be short or long. Depending on how much homework I have, my mood (it changes often) etc.. I should get them up every 3-4 days at least! Thanks guys for following me! Appreciate it!_

"Minny! How is everything going?" Johnny asks walking with a smile. She looks at his feet and back up to him and sighs.

"Just fine Johnny," she says rather happy. Probably because he let me keep her here as a maid... Even if he knew all about the pie and her reputation in on round town.

"What's for breakfast?" I ask leaning against the countertop looking over the antiques in the kitchen. They annoy me to bits and I know without a doubt they will kill me if, I stared at one for too long. I cringe a little and look over to Minny who's telling him everything in sight.

"Pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and coffee," she says slyly placing the last of the food on the plates. She smiles and picks all three up like a server at a restaurant, but with the skill to pick up 6 plates if they needed too, and her coffee. I smile back and we all head toward the dining room. The air get's cooler and goose bumps form quickly when Johnny touch's my arm heading in threw the door.

Johnny and I sit quickly as Minny sets the plates down, "usually you're jumping up and down with stories," she says breaking the silence and sits down quickly. I adjust in my seat and glance over to Johnny already into his eggs.

He sure loves his eggs. I smile and look over to Minny taking a sip of coffee eyebrows raised up high. "I... I don't know, we've only seen each other for like, like 3 minutes," I say looking around the table confused but awkwardly smile anyway. My voice cracks high like mothers in one of her moods and I clear my throat.

She nods and looks over the front page of the news. Her mood has lifted some since I first saw her but it is still flaky.

I sigh heavily and nudge Johnny's foot. He looks up and stops chewing like one of them crazy scenes on teevee. Food on the edge of his full mouth, fork at the ready, and eyes wide open like one of them cats up a tree. Slowly he swallows, "yeah?" he asks.

"I'm gunna tell her, bout uh..." I say miserably uncomfortable. "Oh, go ahead she'll need to know anyway," he says and takes another bite.

I turn my head and look down to my own food then back towards to Minny confused like duck. She's got one of 'em "I'm gunna kill yu if you don't tell me" looks.

"Were, possibly thinking..."

"Not possibly, we are," Johnny cuts me off and winks as he chews his next bite.

I look at him wide eyed in shock and about pass over onto the floor. Those are the words I have wanted to hear all year long.

"So what's it be?" she asks a little annoyed.

"Were adopting!" I squeal into the mansion for a home.

Johnny swallows satisfied, "it's been a debatable topic," he says sweetly looking over to Minny whose eye just twitched.

"Oh! Has it ever..." I sigh out relived, brush my crazy hair out of my eyes dramatically and look over to Minny. She has shocked lifeless reading all over her face and blinks, a smile finally creeping up to her.

"Finally some chilluns to fill them creepy rooms upstairs!" she says relieved like she is going to have more than just me and Johnny as company.

"Oh no it will be sometime, " I wave my fork in the air, "adoption agencies says they take up to months before much happens," I say reassuring that she will be stuck with us for some time. I giggle at the thought.

"Mmhmm, so how long you suppose, me to be teaching you to cook?" she says a little concerned and flips the page slowly.

"Well... Until I can cook well!" I say sarcastically. I take another bite of my pancakes and watch Johnny get up for another serving.


	3. Truth, I need to relize it

We all finish our meals; Minny takes the dirty dishware and starts scrubbing like there is no tomorrow. She done do that a few times, some days she's real light on cleaning other days it's like someone hit her and told her to work more than should be necessary. Johnny gone off to buy some food for the week so here I am just talking my head off as she irons some of my pants.

"Mm hmm" Minny says every few sentences and the more I hear it the more I go on. It ain't not like me, to not talk for so long once I find a place in a group of friends, but it's more like Minny's the group, and my house is the place I stand.

"Oh, and I joined a club!" I finish the last of my thoughts aloud, excited as a duck with seeds being thrown at it.

"One hilly ain't apart of?" she asks with a sigh.

"Mmhmm! It is for gardeners. Once a week we go out for a few hours and plant lil gardens around town. There's only 7 a us so it ain't like id be a stand alone in a crowd of 30 or, something," I say proud but still worried that might just what it'll be.

"I dun think Hilly knows gardeners? She ain't the type to use her time with them," Minny says setting the iron down and folding the pants to be hanging from a hanger.

"You think?" I ask switching hands to set my chin on.

It is a cool day today, rainy, grey but it doesn't bother me much. I yawn rather loudly and groan with boredom and sigh.

Minny just looks me in the eye and sets up the pair of pants to be burned into a straight unwrinkled perfect looking thing.

I take that as a yes and yawn again. It is just about 4 now, she's just bout finished up with the ironing and she should be off just before my first Gardening Club meets.

"You ever garden Minny?" I ask curious.

"No Celia, I don't take the liking," she says gritty. Slowly she irons down the right leg and shifts standing positions.

"Oh, well what is your favourite past time?" I ask very soft, slow. My eyes are caught by the rose bushes back outside, their blooming quite well. Maybe, just maybe there is a glimpse of hope in the future. They never bloom, not even in the spring summer.

"Teevee, I watch my program when I ain't cleanin' or cooking," she says folding the pants up real nice.

I nod and drift into a depressing mood, not that I am, just memory lane has it in for me real well. I just cannot look back onto my childhood and not grit my teeth.

"Celia? Celia!" I hear faintly and look up to Minny in panic. She is shaking my arm on the table a little but I just turn back to the window. Tears stream down my cheeks and drip onto my tank.

"What's the matter?" she asks folding up the rest of the clothing and set's them on the ironing board like it ain't no big deal. She turns back to me, "I can't work if I you don't tell me what's wrong."

I look up to her then look over towards the other side of the room. "I can't stand thinking about Sugar Ditch. I just can't look back now. I know I have nothing to worry about and I was, crazy, for thinking to go back... But now I just can't control these memories re-entering my mind..."

I wipe the tears off my face. "I hate it..." I almost yell at her. I dig my palm into my eyes and rest my elbows on the table. I am just real glad Minny will just listen; she is real good at that, listening. Like my fish I had back when I was 14, I just talked like an idiot when I had problems.

And if life hadn't gotten a little "different" Minny says the most peculiar thing I have ever heard her say. She sighs real heavy in confession, "If I didn't know any better, and I do, I would let you go on like this."

I look at her oddly as if she just described my life, has she broken threw? And seen what my mother done? Or, has she just opened up a whole other area of depression?

She set's down on the chair across from and looks out the window a second in thought, then sighs again. "I know I ain't supposed to get into the white ladies business, but you just dragged me in. So what I should say is that it's ok, but I tell you something. Something you need to trust me on."

The tears stop, as I look at her full attention, curious about her sudden change of attitude.

"Now look a here. I done know about your past, about Sugar Ditch, or much about you 10 years ago, but I know you know, and what Sugar Ditch is now in the paper."

I continue looking at her with caution like she's going to rip me apart.

"You obviously grew up in a really shitty part of Mississippi, and was..." she pauses a moment and sighs heavily, "obviously done have trama each day. Fear, that you are going to wake up to it again. You understand? I ain't saying it twice."

She says real stern like it's a touchy subject to her, and as true as it is, I feel uncomfortable with this truth. I nod real hard in attention.

"Good, but look, you got a big house, big yard, good husband, a good life. Something that you have and it ain't worth crying about anymore. We ALL learn to deal with it and so will you," she stops looking at me dead in the eye. She smiles a quick second and goes to get up.

"Wait," I say looking at the table, "did, something happen to you? Like, when you were..."

"No... It's 4 Celia. I have things to do at home," and she leaves without saying or warning.

Bizzare as it was, as rude as I feel, I can't help but know she's right, I ain't going to go back to my rotten family, or ugliness, and nothing will change that. Not even two slice Hilly.


End file.
